Following the ban of kava and its related products by major buyer countries, Vanuatu Minister for Agriculture Steven Kalsakau wants to table a bill in the next parliamentary session due to start on Tuesday.

Kalsakau plans to regulate the planting, the harvesting, the conservation, the packaging and the marketing of kava to local and international markets.

According to the Root Crops Geneticist at the Department of Agriculture in Port Vila, Vincent Lebot, Vanuatu has nobody else to blame because the industry is so disorganized.

The present situation warranted the intervention of the authorities to regulate the industry, he said.

"Kava is a very complicated issue because we don’t deal with the same kava product in Vanuatu, Fiji or even in Germany and France," said Lebot...

TARAWA, Kiribati (Nov. 1, 2002 - Pacnews/Spinner News/Pacific Media Watch)---A story about plans by the United States to invade Kiribati that has caused widespread concern in Tarawa and Christmas Island came from a New Zealand satirical website.

Pacnews reported that the story, which led the Office of the President to issue a series of public broadcasts assuring the population that the planned "invasion" was not true, came from Spinner, a website featuring satirical "news" stories.

On Wednesday night the Kiribati Office of the President -- apparently unaware that the story seemed to be designed to poke fun at the foreign policies of U.S. President George W. Bush -- issued a statement condemning the story as a "misleading, fearful, intimidating and defamatory" attempt to "cause a lot of problems before the general elections."

SUVA, Fiji (Nov. 1, 2002 - Islands Business/PINA Nius)---With campaigning heating up in Kiribati for its Nov. 29 general election, the Chinese ambassador has denied claims that he was involved in voter-influencing tactics for President Teburoro Tito.

Opposition leader Dr. Harry Tong has of late complained loudly of what he termed the "over-friendly" association between Chinese Embassy officials in Tarawa and government electoral candidates.

Observers say the Chinese government would be keen to see the re-election of Tito to ensure the continuing presence of its satellite tracking station in South Tarawa.

Tong and his party have not hid their intention to close the Chinese station if they win the November poll. In the last session of parliament they tried unsuccessfully to get the government to provide information about it.

Tito is seeking a second and final term as president of the Central Pacific republic. He needs to win one...

MELBOURNE, Australia (Oct. 31, 2002 – Radio Australia)---Australia's Department of Immigration says 21 refugees have been accepted from the processing center on Nauru because they have close family ties in Australia.

The group, including 11 children, were among hundreds fleeing Indonesia in August last year when their vessel sank off Australia's Christmas Island and was rescued by the Norwegian freighter Tampa. The 21 refugees have arrived in Brisbane and are expected to live with relatives in New South Wales, Victoria and Western Australia.

An immigration department spokeswoman Janine Macfarlane says the 18 Iraqis and three Afghans have been granted secondary movement visas. "They're granted five years temporary protection in Australia, and maybe considered for permanent stay after four-and-a-half years if they have an ongoing protection need," Macfarlane said.

More than 900 asylum seekers remain at the offshore processing centers on Nauru and Papua New Guinea...

PORT MORESBY, Papua New Guinea (Nov. 3, 2002 - Post-Courier/PINA Nius Online)---Discrimination against HIV/AIDS sufferers in Papua New Guinea will be a thing of the past if the cabinet approves a proposed new piece of legislation.

The law is in its final stage of drafting.

It aims to tackle discrimination and protect the rights of people living with HIV/AIDS, including those looking for employment.

Director of the National AIDS Council Dr. Ninkama Moiya said a legal and ethical advisory committee including lawyers, magistrates and the attorney-general’s department initially drafted the laws in 1999.

He said the draft was then presented at a workshop conducted by the National Aids Council in October last year.

Moiya said the workshop was attended by the "wider sector" of the public, both in the private and public sectors.

He said opinions and comments from individual representatives were then considered and incorporated in the bill before...

MAJURO, Marshall Islands (Nov. 2, 2002 - RNZI/PINA Nius Online)---Both major airlines operating out of Majuro Airport have met with the government and local businesses after objections to the airlines' new security measures, and they have agreed to changes in procedures.

The requirement that the luggage of everyone, including political leaders, be searched caused members of the Nitijela (or Parliament) to call for the government to take over airport security.

That suggestion has raised concerns from the business community and the international airlines, Aloha Airlines and Continental Micronesia.

The airlines have now agreed that the searches of everyone should proceed but that the luggage of the president and his ministers will be conducted in the VIP lounge.

The airlines have reiterated that the new measures are not theirs but imposed by organizations such as the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration.

Pacific Islands Report is a nonprofit news publication of the Pacific Islands Development Program at the East-West Center in Honolulu, Hawai‘i. Offered as a free service to readers, PIR provides an edited digest of news, commentary and analysis from across the Pacific Islands region, Monday - Friday.